It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

Charlie Brown, one of my favorite cartoon characters from growing up.  And even better is the Charlie Brown Christmas special they show every year on TV.  I even own one of those little, sad, pathetic Charlie Brown trees they sell at Walgreen's.  I think I finally broke down and bought one a couple of years ago.  It is one of many trees I put up in my small but festive house.

Today is the day that I'm going to start putting up the trees and decorating the house for the most wonderful time of the year *insert your own favorite Christmas song here* and I can't wait.  This will be the first Christmas with the puppy Stella, so this could be interesting.  She has a thing for dragging the pet bed and the kitchen rugs all over the house, so something tells me the tree skirt won't stay put either!  But I will give it a try and with any luck, she will leave it alone.  I think I'm going to have to invest in a lot of raw hides this Christmas season to keep both she and Quincy out from under the tree.  Quincy loves to lay under there and hang out and try to blend into the packages.  Silly dogs...what would we do without them though, right?

But getting back to my point (you all know how I tend to ramble), I'm pretty excited to get the big tree up today and with any luck will get it almost done today/tonight.  It's a 7 foot tall tree and I usually put about 1300 lights on it.  I think every year Alliant Energy depends on me putting up my tree and lights for bonuses for their employees.  I will have to post a picture of it when I'm all done.  I was looking for pictures of my tree from last year and I can't find them.  If I find those, I'll post one of those as well.  Anywho, I'm off for my walk, a trip to the grocery store and then I'm cranking up the Christmas music (you can stream your own there) and decorating until my little heart is content!

I Feel Pretty Good About Myself After Yesterday

Yesterday was my 1st Thanksgiving since RNY on October 5, 2010.  I had to work from 10am to 10pm and I thought it was going to be a breeze.  I was completely wrong!  We had a potluck at work, on top of having the traditional Thanksgiving meal at lunchtime.

I pretty much ate my way thru the entire day, but I made sure the eats were high protein "meals" and I was very careful to make sure I got extra fluids in, paying close attention to our drinking rules:  No drinking 1/2 hour before, during or 1/2 hour after a meal.  

I started out with my breakfast being a slice of cheese and a slice of salami.  At lunch I had a little bit of turkey with gravy (I couldn't pass up the gravy), 1/2 of a deviled egg and 3 small bites of mashed potatoes with gravy.  Later in the afternoon I had another slice of cheese and another slice of salami.  Dinner was a small amount of homemade baked beans with Lil' Smokies (WLS friendly recipe) and a snack before bed of a deviled egg. 

I was really upset with myself for eating so much yesterday, especially since we're not supposed to snack at all, we get 3 meals all day, that's it and I broke the rules.  But when I look back at it this morning, it wasn't all THAT bad.  Everything was high protein and very small portions and best of all, the scale didn't move up at all!  After mentally beating myself up for yesterday, I got to thinking...yesterday only happens once a year.  I haven't been eating like that for the last 7 weeks and one day isn't going to make or break me for my weight loss journey.  I didn't over do anything, I didn't have any pumpkin pie, I didn't have a ton of sugar...I enjoyed my day at work, I enjoyed my holiday and given the choice, I would do it again!

Planning Ahead For Thanksgiving

Many of us probably feel the same way that turkey does since our WLS, I know I do.  But thanks to Pam and her tips and the recipes from The Girls I'm feeling better about my 1st big holiday post-op and I'm not even attending a Thanksgiving! 

I have to work that day from 10am to 10pm in dispatch which is fine by me.  The cook in the jail is fixing a Thanksgiving lunch with turkey, stuffing and all the fixings and since we're working we get a free tray (we get a free tray anytime we work a shift that is during a meal time) and then some.  Rex, my favorite jail cook always piles our trays with extra goodies and super huge portions.  Which was great last year, but I'm kind of dreading it this year.  Although I can't have the stuffing and potatoes (yet) I can have the turkey and the gravy.  Will I?  I'm not sure yet.  I'm going to pack my lunch and dinner still just in case I panic and don't feel I can handle the holiday feast.

I also need to take something potluck style because we do a potluck that day as well.  Since the administration is gone, it's just us lonely dispatchers and jailers all day long.  I used to always take vegetable cheese soup, but after looking at the package, I decided there's too much sugar and sodium in there for my liking and I'm not going to bring something I can't have.  So, I need some ideas.  I can't have raw veggies yet and someone else is already bringing the meat and cheese tray.  I was thinking of picking something off of Eggface's site or maybe something from The Foodies site, but I cant make up my mind.  HELP!!!

In A Funk

I have been in this horrible mood since I got off work at 4pm today.  Why?  I have no idea!!!  But I've got to shake this feeling!  I'm 6 weeks out from surgery and I've worked very hard to change my crappy attitude and be more positive.  Could it be that all my positive energy is gone?  And this is what's left?  A pissy, pouty, leave me alone Katie?

I sure hope not.  I've been for my walk, thinking that would help.  That's a big negative McFly.  It's almost like it's gotten worse!  Is this one of the mood swings the surgeon had been talking about?

Maybe I need a nice cup of hot chocolate, my pj's and a good movie?  Oh wait...tried that.  CRAP!  Now what?!?  Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, because I don't like this crabbiness I'm feeling and displaying.

Working and Leftovers

Chicken Mock Pie

Yesterday was my first day back to work since before my surgery on October 5.  I was a mixed bag of emotions, not only the night before but about 3 days before as well.  Friday night I had this huge overwhelming feeling.  I couldn't explain it to anyone at first and then it hit me.  For some strange and unknown reason I felt that when I went back to work I had to show them I had made huge results.  That if I didn't look like I had lost weight that my 6 weeks off work was a complete and total waste.  By Saturday that feeling had left and I thought, if they don't like what they see, they can all go pound sand, but that wasn't the case at all Monday morning.  It was so good to be back and to have everyone tell me how happy they are to have me back. 

Sunday rolled around and I started to think about what I was going to take to work for lunch the next day.  I flipped thru my cookbooks and websites and finally decided on a family recipe for Chicken Pot Pie.  But, I was going to have to alter it...A LOT!  Our family recipe has a mashed potato crust and a whole can of those green bean casserole french fried onions (yum!) not to mention tons and tons of cheese.  So after searching thru my pantry and freezer, I came up with my Chicken Mock Pie.  It was awesome!  I can't believe I actually altered a recipe and that it tasted good on top of that!  So, I'll share it with you guys and let me know what you think about it.  It's what I took to work Monday and what I had for dinner tonight. 

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup (I used Healthy Request by Campbell's)
1/4 cup skim milk
2 cans of chicken, drained
1 small bag of frozen veggies, cooked (I used the pea, carrots, corn and green bean mix)
minced onion (I didn't have real onion on hand)
1/2 cup Weight Watchers Double Cheddar Shredded Cheese
dash of garlic salt
dash of kosher salt
dash of pepper
1/4 tsp ground mustard
Parmesan Cheese for topping (grated)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook veggies according to package directions.  Strain off any access liquids, pour into mixing bowl.  Add remaining ingredients into veggies and mix together.  You may want more or less salt, garlic salt and pepper depending on your tastes, so season to taste.  Pour mixture into a 9x9 casserole dish (or something the same size) and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes.

*I had about 1/2 cup for dinner and I'm 6 weeks out.*

I Love Cooking Again!!!

Yep, that's right...I love cooking again!  LOVE IT!  Before my RNY I would cook things here and there.  But found like many of you, it was just easier to run thru a drive-thru or have food delivered.  There were never any leftovers and the clean up was easy.  Pretty simple life except for one thing...that fast food lifestyle was making me HUGE!  I can't believe how much money I have been able to save by not going back to my old habits.  I've been able to put that extra cash towards fun kitchen utensils and a couple of new clothing items.

But thanks to my friends over at Pouch Party and the beyond talented Eggface (AKA Shelly) they have made me realize that even though this was a life style change, it wasn't a food death sentence.  They have made food fun, wonderfully tasteful and shopping for recipe ingredients fun for me again.  Now, I will NEVER be able to throw recipes together like these cooking queens, but I can actually cook up some of their yummy creations.

I love having leftovers now and am excited to take some to work tomorrow in my Bento Box (thank you Shelly) and see what all I can make with my leftovers or can freeze for a later date.  My parents are really liking my new found love for cooking as they are getting to sample just about everything I have made so far.  It hasn't been much, but it's always been enough so my mom doesn't have to stop quilting to make dinner, which is the least I can do for the both of them (they were great, beyond great, during my surgery and recovery) and it's nice to have dinner with them during the week.

So, if you're looking for new recipes, some great inspiration and just good reading in general to make you happy, I highly recommend you check out the above ladies.  They deserve more credit than they get and many, many thank yous from me and my pouch!  Thank you ladies!!! 

It's The Little Things

My goodness...it's been a very long time since I have checked in!  Granted it's only been a little over a week, but where did the time go?  I don't know that I can even remember everything I've been up to.  I can tell you, I've been up to dropping some more pounds!  It's the best feeling in the world.  Well, that and FINALLY being able to eat red grapes.  Oh, my red grapes, how I've missed you!

I have reached the point in my diet where I can have my vegetables back (except for corn and potatoes) and I have my fruits back.  I never realized how much I loved my red grapes until I couldn't have them anymore.  I have been following a strict diet since September 21 (2 weeks pre-op) and never in a million years did I think I would miss fruits, especially my grapes.  I can also have creamy soups, stews and chili...and just in time for cooler weather and hopefully soon winter.  Although, I'm starting to notice how much colder I am and I've only dropped about 35 pounds, but it must be enough to make me chilly!  Yet again, another great feeling, believe it or not.

I think for dinner I'm going to make some broccoli and cheese soup, but I need to dig up some protein (because I'm still falling very short on my daily totals) so I might throw in some turkey or something into my bowl.  Or I've been thinking about making one of those Yoplait Smoothies that's already prepackaged and throwing in a scoop of protein powder.  And if I make it with milk, that should help too.  Hmm...I just might be onto something here!